Phillies GM Ruben Amaro Jr. said outfielder Tyson Gillies has the skillset to play in the Major Leagues, according to Phil Sheridan of the Philadelphia Inquirer. "He has better tools than a lot of the guys we've got," Amaro said. "He just needs to play. The poor guy hasn't gotten a chance to play. He's still young." Gillies, 23, missed all but three games in 2011 and played in only 28 games in 2010.

The Phillies’ projected 25-man roster consists of many older players, but Sheridan writes that "it's more important to get better than simply younger.” The Phillies added players such as Jim Thome (41), Ty Wigginton (34) and Chad Qualls (33) this past offseason.

He simply isn’t very good … so you are someone that looks solely at the batting average. He has already won an MVP and rookie of the year. His OBP was 370 last year and had just as many rbi and homeruns as Ryan Braun last year. Batting Average is the most over-rated stat. Howard is an elite first baseman.

how do you measure run-producing ability in the MLB? RBI is not the correct answer

do you know what wRC stands for? weighted runs created. it is a measure of total offensive output and it is miles more accurate and complete than a laughable stat like RBI

wRC+ will confirm that howard has an above average but non-elite bat. add to that the fact that he is a poor defender and a horrible baserunner and what you get is a player who is barely top 100 if at all

You are understating his output a bit. His worst year ever, he was a +2. Realistically he is a high 2-ish type in most years. Also, you are comparing him to the entire league. I would listen to that argument, and probably agree with you.

But when viewed in the context of the Phillie’s next best alternative, which are almost all sub-zero types, he is immensely important.

I have hopes for Mayberry, if you look at the changes he’s made to his stance the uptick in production COULD be him just “figuring it out” finally.

Regardless, even if he’s league-average as you mentioned I think my point is valid. The guy said the Phils replacements were sub-zero WAR players (he’s since modified his post to read “almost all sub-zero”) and I do not think that’s a fair assessment. Even at 2 WAR (average), Mayberry alone will help fill the gap somewhat.

With the support they get from their fanbase, it’s pretty hard to ever say their window is closing.

Also, for all the “they can’t afford X, can’t afford X if Y” etc etc stuff that’s been floating lately…if you look at their payroll, they can easily afford Hamels, Victorino, AND Pence should they wish to resign all three. They’re $11m under the luxury for this season (currently $167m payroll, 178m threshold) and nearly $68m under the threshold next season. Yes they have some other guys to deal with besides those three but it doesn’t really change anything – the Phils are fine.

This is a team that used a roster spot on Matt Stairs for a year and a half. There are way less useful players on the Phillies roster. Pinch hitting for your pitcher with Jim Thome is a lot better than using someone like Mayberry or Nix.

The Cubs are a team with strong ticket sales, a big time TV deal, and they sell a lot of swag. They also have not been to the post season since 2008, and will trade Alfonso Soriano for .15 on the $1 right now so that they can begin rebuilding.

I would say that somewhere along the line, the window of Reicketts blue-print either closed, or fell out of the wall completely. Amaro is not that good to prevent himself from having the same happen here in Philadelphia.

Phillies window started in 2007 and were a playoff team since. The cubs were basically either a under .500 team or made it into the playoffs in a off shoot. The former Cubs GM basically just gave out 7 year bloated contracts to guys who should have never gotten a 5+ contract to begin with. At least with the contracts of Amaro his are only 3-5 years. So even when the players start to waver and aren’t worth the contract the contract is either close to over or already over and don’t weigh down the Phillies.

younger is the definition of better. Over 32 is old thereby diminishing skills. Qualls is awful, Thome is too old to be in an NL team, I like Ty but truth is he is pass his prime, but he is still a useful player

There is no more surefire way on this Earth (outside of Iran and Isreal) to start a flame war than by having the balls to state that Ryan Howard is a good baseball player. Poor-to-average baseball players don’t average 40/120 every year and help lead a team to 5 consectuive postseasons.

RBI, while not the be all end all, are certainly a pretty good indication that a guy is fairly good at helping his team win. A lot. Which the Phillies do. You know people are desperate to discredit him by pointing out his baserunning. But the very next time we lose a game because Howard gets caught stealing I’ll jump right on that bandwagon.

No one’s saying Howard isn’t a good hitter, although we’ll have to see how he rebounds from his injury at the age of 32.

Problem is that most first basemen are good hitters, and Howard isn’t anywhere near $25MM (AAV if they decline option…it’s $23MM if they don’t) good.

Baserunning is much more than stealing bases. It’s going from first to third on a single, it’s being able to tag up on a fly ball, etc. These considerations are much more important than stolen bases. They affect the number of runs the team is able to score every time he’s on the basepaths. Over the course of the season, it adds up quite a bit.

He can’t field, he can’t run the bases, and he plays the easiest defensive position short of the DH. That kills his value.